The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to data reconstruction systems and methods, and more particularly to transducer configurations for use in systems and methods to estimate properties of regions of interest, particularly in soft-field reconstructions of multi-material objects.
Soft-field tomography, such as Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), diffuse optical tomography, elastography, and related modalities may be used to measure the internal properties of an object, such as the electrical properties of materials comprising internal structures of the object. For example, in EIT systems, an estimate is made of the distribution of electrical conductivities of the internal structures. Such EIT systems reconstruct the conductivity and/or permittivity of the materials within the area or volume based on an applied excitation (e.g., current) and a measured response (e.g., voltage) acquired at or proximate the surface of the area or volume. Visual distributions of the estimates can then be formed.
In soft-field tomography, in particular EIT of a multi-material object, such as the flow of fluid including gas through a pipe, measurements are often performed on the horizontal flow through the pipe. In these horizontally oriented pipes, or any non-vertical pipes, the distribution of liquid and gas is not necessarily spread across the entire inner circumference of the pipe. For example, the level of flow through the pipe may vary, such that liquid flowing through the pipe settles towards the bottom of the pipe. Conventional transducer configurations and excitation methodologies, which are suited for symmetric geometries, such as flow in a vertical pipeline, are not optimally sensitive in this situation, namely where the pipe is not vertical.